Free-Form Quilts And Patchwork
Free-Form Quilts And Patchwork
Jessie Cutts
Batsford
Introduction to the book
The title tells the topic, no revealing necessary, yet what I feel is the key word is ‘free’. This book is all about working with some intuition and less of the tape and calculator. Maybe you have made many a quilt, or maybe you are too scared to start, thinking it too exact a craft. Learn from Jessie as she guides you through the possible projects you can make with a quilt heart and a freedom of choice.
Jessie’s Background
She tells us in the introduction that she was always making…yet has a variety of artistic experience, in both traditional techniques and graphic design. Quilting was not a skill always in her box. Apparently it was only later on when she was having children, maybe she got a bit more maternal about her projects and thought about making for her offspring. Her business named Cutts and Sons website can be viewed here.
Now she works from Kent, UK, however was living in Brisbane.
The Style
I really appreciated the little details in the visual stylisation of this book. The hand drawn titles at times and diagrams (see page 31 for an example) really make it personal and it loses that traditional hand edged quilt box we may have noted before. It feels freer, in writing too…it’s personal and honest without oversharing or taking away from the subject matter in hand.
I see the artist over the quilting expert here - not that this makes her any less - she knows her craft well.
The images are special too. They are very life style as well as instructive. On page 79 under a section on using small scraps, I loved the image - it’s messy and real - yet has a beauty which cannot be repeated. Again, the artist emerges - not that I am saying here that all artists are messy! But I will admit personally it can be a feature!
Teaching
While a good section of the book is on the projects, the rest is very much on information and teaching. How to stretch a quilt, what colours, what materials….
Projects
Ten of them in total. None feel too much - they are adaptable yet with perfect guidance. The project named 9 really said what this book was about - ‘wiggly’ is used in the title and it’s a baby quilt. The pictures illustrating this finished are sublime and thoughtful - for instance a beautiful rocky horse is used as a prop - I want one of those never mind the project I should be looking at.
Other projects include a Pumpkin Pin cushion and a lot of modern takes at usual quilting projects…log cabin being one.
Key defining features
For me as a reader, given my own art over textiles initial background, I appreciated the photography and the typography - if you are keen on the finishes this may appeal.
Through the whole book I felt like I was learning about a life style over a cold technique. This warmed me to the book, yet I felt guided and still in tune by the projects step by step visuals, which you can work through.
